Trick Or Treat Troubles
by SqueakyTheDuck
Summary: The men of Station 51 are chosen to host a Halloween party. What's worse...they have to dress up! What comical costumes await our fearless firemen? Read to find out.


"Morning, men," Captain Stanley looked up from his clipboard at his assembled crew as roll call started. "All right, first thing today—hmm, it seems we've been chosen to host the Fire Department's annual Halloween party tomorrow."

A chorus of surprised exclamations rang out across the bay.

"Aw, Cap, do we have to?" Johnny whined.

"It's such a hassle." Chet chimed in. "All the kids and the candy and the decorations…"

"And the costumes." Cap's short statement caught his mens' attention.

"What about costumes?" Chet asked.

"This year," Cap stated. "They want the hosts to dress up, too."

"_We _have to wear costumes?" Johnny queried, an expression of horrified disbelief on his face. "How could the chief do this to us?"

"It gets better." Hank said with a touch of sarcasm. Apparently, he wasn't too keen on the idea either. "We don't get to pick our own costumes. Instead, we put our names in a hat, then we each draw a name…"

"And whoever 's name we pick, we get to choose their costume?" Chet added hopefully, suddenly interested.

"Uh, Cap," Johnny said, casting a sidelong glance at Chet's gleeful expression. "Are you sure that's such a good idea?"

Cap shook his head. "It can't be too bad. But, Chet…" he cast an accusing glance at the grinning fireman. "Go easy on whoever you get, okay?"

"No promises, Cap." Chet replied.

"Cap, if he picks my name, can we make him draw again?"

"No, John."

E!E!E!E!E!

The rest of the morning passed uneventfully, each of the men doing their assigned chores. It was a slow day, with the squad being sent out only once for a heart case. When they returned to the station, Johnny and Roy wandered into the dayroom, where the others were already assembled.

"You're just in time." Marco told them. "We're about to draw names."

"Can I go first, Cap?" Chet asked.

"All right, I don't see why not." Cap held the bowl out to Chet, who closed his eyes and reached in. After probing around for a few seconds, he finally settled on one slip of paper. Opening his eyes, he read the name.

"I got Mike." He said with a mischievous grin.

"I think I'll go out and catch a cold." Mike said flatly.

Cap laughed. "Why don't you go next, Mike." He extended the bowl to his trusted second-in-command. Mike reached in and pulled out a slip of paper.

"I got Johnny." Mike said, reading the name. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Johnny breathe a sigh of relief. _I wouldn't relax yet if I were you, Gage. _Mike thought.

"John, it's your turn, pal." Cap held the bowl out to Johnny. The dark-haired paramedic reached into the bowl and dug around for a few seconds, searching for the one that 'felt' right.

Cap rolled his eyes. "Just pick one, ya twit!"

"I'm workin' on it," Johnny insisted. "I'm workin' on it." Finally, satisfied that he had the 'right one', he pulled his hand out of the bowl. He unfolded the slip of paper, and a slow grin spread across his face.

"I take it you got the one you wanted." Roy said, already knowing his partner's answer.

Johnny smirked. "I picked Chet."

Chet groaned and the drawing continued. Cap pulled Marco's name, Marco got Roy, and Roy got Cap. The group dispersed as each man began planning a costume for their respective 'victims'.

E!E!E!E!E!

"Psst! Marco." Marco looked up from his perch on the washroom bench. He listened to hear where the noise had come from.

"Psst!" There! Near the engine. Mike was waving him over. Marco stood and approached the engineer, wondering what his usually quiet friend was up to.

"What's up, Mike?" Marco asked.

"Shhh!" Mike motioned for Marco to lower his voice, then whispered, "I have an idea."

"Okay," Marco whispered back. "What's your idea?"

"You picked Roy, right?" Marco nodded.

"Right," Mike said. "And I picked Johnny. I've got an idea for Johnny's costume, and I want to know if you'll be willing to choose the, uh, other part, for Roy's costume."

"Depends." Marco replied. "What do you have in mind?"

E!E!E!E!E!

"You have _got _to be kidding me!" This from Hank, as he stood in front of the mirror in the washroom the following evening, surveying his Mr. Spock costume, complete with Starfleet insignia and rubber pointy ears. "How could Roy do this to me?"

He felt a tap on the shoulder. "You think you got it bad?" Cap turned around to see who had addressed him…and came face-to-face with a vampire.

He let loose a startled, "Yaaah!" before he realized that it was Mike, in a very convincing Dracula costume—slicked back hair, rubber fangs, white powder on his face and hands, and a tuxedo—with a cape.

Cap chuckled. "That's Chet's sense of humor for you. 'Mike Stoker's Dracula'. Hmmm, that has a nice ring to it."

"I wonder if vampires can feed on Vulcan blood." Mike shot back.

"Touche. I guess we'll just have to hope that the others got worse costumes than we did."

"Trust me, we did. Or at least _I_ did. I'm gonna murder Gage." Cap and Mike looked up to see a very unhappy Chet standing in the doorway. They exchanged amused glances as they surveyed Chet's granny costume.

Johnny had certainly done a good job. Chet was adorned in a pink flowered dress, stuffed all around to present a plump appearance. He wore white high heels, a pearl necklace, wire rimmed glasses and a wig of gray curls. Despite Johnny's insistence, Chet had refused to shave his mustache, making the costume even more amusing.

"Well, Chet," Cap said, fighting to keep a straight face. "How long did it take you to get here form the nursing home?"

"He probably came straight from his bridge game." Mike chimed in. "Did the girl scouts help you cross the street, Chet?"

Chet stomped out of the room in defeat, listening to the sounds of his commanding officers' laughter behind him.

"Y'know, Cap," Mike said. "I think this might be fun after all."

"I think you're right, Michael."

"Speak for yourself." This from Marco as he entered the room in a Hawaiian hula dancer costume.

"Cheer up, Marco," Mike put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Just think about what we did to Johnny and Roy."

Marco grinned, forgetting his own costume woes. "Wait till you see it, Cap. Mike and I teamed up to come up with costumes for the Dynamic Duo."

"And the Dynamic Duo are gonna strangle you." The voice clearly belonged to Johnny. Mike and Marco smirked and high-fived each other as their subjects entered the room.

"I'm impressed." Cap said. "You guys did a good job. They really look the part."

Johnny scowled and adjusted his grey crown-shaped hat. "I resent that."

"Wait a minute." Mike said. "Hold still, Roy." Mike took a brown marker from his pocket, and quickly applied 'freckles' to Roy's face.

He took a step back. "There you have it, Marco. Archie and Jughead."

"Well," Cap said. "Now that we're all here, what say we get things started. The kids should be here soon."

E!E!E!E!E!

The evening passed quickly, and as the guests left, the six strangely adorned men set to work cleaning up.

"I'd say that went pretty well." Cap said.

"Not for all of us." Chet grumbled. "Some kid's grandpa was flirting with me."

Johnny chuckled. "I guess your costume was pretty convincing, then. He must have thought you were really a woman."

"The mustache should have tipped him off." Chet pointed out.

"Well I had fun." Mike joined the conversation. "I think we should do this again next year."

"If we do this next year." Johnny retorted. "I'll plan my vacation for Halloween."

"Same here." Roy agreed.

"Me too." Marco put in.

"I'll go with you guys." Chet said fervently.

Cap and Mike exchanged amused glances and left the dayroom together, walking out into the back lot. Cap leaned against the brick wall, and his engineer followed suit.

"Hey, Cap? Are we ever going to tell them that it was me and you who suggested to the chief that we all dress up?"

"Well, I'm not going to tell them," Cap replied with a twinkle in his eye. "So as long as you stay in Stoker Silence Mode about this, then they'll never know."

"Stoker Silence Mode." Mike mused. "I like that."

The two men headed back inside, laughing at their shared secret.


End file.
